Conviction
by IrogicalArgument
Summary: He Knew he was nothing more than a lab rat to them. He knew they thought of him as an expendable experiment that they could get rid of when he finally broke. But he was Sephiroth, he was a God amongst vermin, and after so many years of being nothing he wasn't going to take it anymore.
1. Chapter 1

So I had massive writers block for a while and could not think of anything. Then I started reading FFVII fanfiction... Then I got a prompt book. This little fic was born and I am surprisingly proud of it. Just so you all know I have never played FFVII so this is inferred from what little I know and the massive amount of fanfics I have read recently. Enjoy and please review. Not beta'd so I am still editing out little mistakes. Please Review, even if it's just to say you like the story.

Disclaimer: I haven't played the games, what would make you think I owned any of this.

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Belittling them was one of my only pleasures. After all I needed them in order to live and they needed me to live so that they could succeed. I knew it was never going to work out the way they wanted it to. I was too fucked up, I had more mako flowing through my veins then blood. At times I almost believed I was more of an experiment than I was a human. But the experiments and tests made me strong, sometimes. So I endured and survived and I talked down to the scientists and doctors that kept my heart beating and my lungs going because there was nothing else I could do. They would sew my lips together and remove my voice box, even dissect me while my heart was still beating in my chest, if it meant their experiment would succeed. They didn't need me specifically. They just needed someone who had no right to fight back. I was someone's property, I was completely expendable. But soon the experiments would make me stronger, strong enough that I would no longer be expendable. Then I could free myself from this world of experiments and become somebody. But for now all I could do was talk down to the scientists and belittle the doctors because they kept me going even when it was no longer humanly possible. Little men and women playing god with me as their sacrifice. It wasn't easy, but that was my life.

I noticed the contrast now more than ever. It has been years since I actually had prolonged contact with a person but when one of the nicer doctors steered me by the arm yesterday after a particularly brutal set of tests I could see the difference. Her wrist was so tiny, her arm almost waif like. And then there was my own arm. Not a crazy muscle bound arm that one might think I would have after all the test I have been through but something that looked sculpted, beyond human, perfection. It was startling to see exactly how much the experiments had changed me. Looking around at the other doctors the irony of the situation hit me. Here I was, humanity turned into godliness and trapped in a cage like a rat. Meanwhile the scum of humanity walked around freely while getting away with what was virtually torture. I could kill everyone in this room in seconds but I would die soon after because I knew not what they had done to me. The experiments had made me perfect on the outside but only they knew how long my organs would work without their constant tweaks. I was still expendable. The contrast of these two styles of living was shocking, but I knew I wasn't the only one. In order to create perfection, and I was perfection, there had to be failures. Maybe, someday when I am free, I could change that. Maybe I could make a difference for another boy out there who only wanted to become more then expendable. Maybe I could find those failures and free them as well.

The little things seemed to matter an awful lot to them. They didn't just ask me about the physical changes but also the mental ones. Emotions meant nothing and I had never developed them because they just didn't care. It sometimes seemed suspicious the amount of times they asked me about hearing voices in my head but it was just another contrast to catalogue. The crazy doctors asking the sane experiment about voices in his head. In fact they asked me that question so often that I would spend what free time I did have sitting and listening, trying to find these voices they were so convinced were there. I am happy, if what I was feeling truly was happiness, to say that I have never heard another voice in my head but my own. Still they asked me that question every day. Sometimes I think they cared more about the voices then they did about the physical part of their experiment. It didn't matter much anymore. I could feel my strength and I knew that soon I would be free from this hellhole they called a laboratory. I could overhear the doctors talking when they thought I was out cold or too far away to hear. The news would have scared anyone else but to me it was a godsend. The president of ShinRa was planning to go to war with Wutai to find some sort of Promised Land and was trying to find a general to lead his armies. Finally, I would no longer be expendable.

The fresh air felt so good on my face. I could not remember ever being outside the laboratory before so this, this was like the heaven I had read about so long ago. Back then during that time when I still thought that someone would come and save me. It didn't matter now. I was free from the labs and there was a war waiting for me. Years of learning how to fight and kill and now I could finally do so. I would put all of their tests to the test, prove I was more than a lab rat they could pick at until they were bored. I know that people, good, human people, people who never did anything wrong, will die. I know that if I come out victorious I will end up back in the labs as they try to create another version of me. However for now I am as close to freedom as I can get. I am Sephiroth, General of the ShinRa armies, and I will never be just another lab rat again. I will not be expendable, I have the same right to live as anyone else, more of a right to live after everything I have been subjected to. This conviction will see me through this war, and into a hopefully brighter future.


	2. Chapter 2

Damn you guys, and girls if you get particular about that, it has been four days and already this story has 67 views and a review. I am honestly shocked. This kicks the crap out of the stats on my other story that has been out for over a year and has just about double the views. Well since some people obviously like this story I will continue it. Also I just had a class called free will and determinism and that idea pops up a lot in FFVII fanfiction so I got a few ideas. Also originally this story was not meant to have dialogue… then I saw Advent Children and realized that Sephiroth has some damn cool lines later on. Therefore you are getting more characters and dialogue. Enjoy and Review!

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Disclaimer is in the last chapter, if you think I own this franchise go back and read that note.

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It was such a small issue but they made such a big deal of it. I understood, after a while, why it seemed so important to them but to me it was just another bit of evidence into the case that I was not human. After all every human has some sort of last name even if they do not know it or acknowledge it. However I am just Sephiroth, admittedly it is now General Sephiroth but truly it is just Sephiroth. I have no last name and for that reason alone they, the previous leaders of the ShinRa army did not want the men to meet me. Said they would have no respect for me if they called me by my first name. But I don't deserve any respect. I have done nothing for these men and soon I will lead them to their deaths, or just never ending nightmares. It is a heavy burden and these men are making it worse by stopping me from meeting the soldiers. I stand and leave as they continue to argue. If they won't introduce me the ShinRa way I will do it my own way. I don't know if this will backfire or not but at least I know I won't get embarrassed. Sometimes having no emotions is a blessing.

I make it to the mess hall but before I can step inside my stomach starts to clench into knots. I have never felt this way before and it is disconcerting. I know I can't get sick anymore. The doctors and mad scientists made sure of that. I'm not even sure if I can scar. But that is beside the point. My stomach is twisting into knots and with it acting so strangely I'm not sure if I can move forward to address the men inside.

"Hey, are you feeling sick. Do you need any help?"

I glance back over my shoulder and see a broad shouldered man with black hair and two swords, one a broadsword in his hand and the other, a buster, on his back standing next to a shorter slimmer man with coppery red hair and a red coat who held a red rapier in one hand and an open book in the other.

"'_When the war of the beasts bring the world's end. The goddess descends from the sky'_, but where is the goddess in this fight. Is it the war that makes you stay out here or embarrassment?"

The red haired man closed the book and looked me straight in the eye. I have not had someone stare me down since I was seven. After my body started growing no one dared look me in the eye. It was a relief, it felt almost as if I had an equal. Not someone who looked down on me as a specimen or an untried general and not someone who was too scared to even breath in my direction like some of the soldiers I meet earlier had been. If these men truly were equals, maybe they had gone through what I had, maybe I wasn't so alone.

"Who are you?" I asked almost desperately. I knew Hojo would say that it was a disgrace to act like this but that almost made me want to do it again. The two men exchanged looks before the red haired one waved his hand at the black haired one and opened his book once more. He began to read again and I felt my heart constrict. He was ignoring me now, maybe looking in my eyes was a fluke.

"Ignore Genesis, he just wants to finish Loveless again before being forced into the mess hall."

The black haired one was talking again. I liked his voice it was calm and commanding but also soothing. It sounded nothing like that of the doctors or of Fat Man ShinRa or even like the voices of the original leaders of the army. I wondered what made his voice sound that nice. Was he just born that way or had doctors changed him like they had changed me. Did he resent his voice that attracted me the same way I resented my looks that attracted the looks of almost every man and woman I had meet since leaving the laboratory. He was staring at me now, I wondered if I had made a mistake. I have never meet anyone else like me, was there a protocol I did not know about. I cocked my head to the side and raised my eyebrow the same way that woman in the helicopter had when I said something she did not understand. Maybe it was the way normal humans communicated, maybe he would understand. I hoped so, I did not want to voice my confusion.

"You weren't paying attention to what I just said, were you?"

I almost looked down at that tone in his voice. The doctors must have done something for his voice to affect me in such a way. I almost felt the emotion shame, but I don't have emotions so it couldn't have been.

"I apologize," I started, "I was… distracted."

"Well alright, just don't do it too often." He finished that sentence with a glare before straightening up and putting a smile back on his face. "Now as I was saying before you got distracted my name is Angeal Hewley, Commander Hewley to the soldiers. And the man with the red hair is Commander Genesis Rhapsodos. Now who are you?"

"I am General Sephiroth."

Genesis Rhapsodos snapped his book shut and looked up at me with shock in his eyes before his face twisted into a snarl. "Are you saying that we have been demoted? We were supposed to become the generals of the ShinRa army. Working with ShinRa all these years just for some random girly man to come in and take away everything we have worked for! I will not accept this! Those highbrow bastards had better have a decent explanation for this bullshit or they are all getting fireballs shoved up their collective asses!"

Genesis Rhapsodos turned on his heel and marched of in the direction of the tent I had exited only a few minutes earlier. Angeal Hewley muttered a quick apology before running off after Genesis Rhapsodos. I am now almost certain that Genesis Rhapsodos has been experimented on. The sudden mood changes could not be normal. I took a deep breath and realized the twisting in my stomach that had delayed me had stopped. I was no closer to figuring out what it was but it was gone now and that was all that mattered. I took a deep breath to get my equilibrium back and entered the mess hall tent that had been my destination from the start. The men inside did not notice my entrance and that made it easier somehow. There was no heavy weight on my shoulders right now. I made my way to the pole in the center of the hall and leaped lightly onto the table nearby so everyone in the tent could see me. Slowly as I settled into my new position the chatter around me silenced and I had everyone's attention.

"Greetings." I said as soon as I had absolute silence. "My name is General Sephiroth and I will be leading you through this war."

The men looked at me. Some had joy on their faces while some almost seemed disgusted. It mattered not to me. ShinRa saw them as expendable, just like myself. But we would prove them wrong. Even if no one else knew I was doing it I would save these men from the horrible future they had unwittingly signed themselves up for. This I swore, this was part of my conviction.


	3. Chapter 3

**IMPORTANT! **221… 221 views and 1 review. I don't know if you guys love me or hate me but that is more views then my other story by a lot. Anyway I'm upping the rating on the story now. I don't really consider this an M rated story but considering all the crack downs that have been going on I am not going to risk it. Beware of war scenes with gory bits. Also if you want to know why Sephiroth is referring to everyone as Vermin ask me. It is too long winded for an Author's Note. I think that is all the important stuff for this chapter, at least I hope I didn't forget anything. **Please Review so I know you guys are actually reading this.**

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Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1, nothing has changed and looking at my bank account nothing will change anytime soon.

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This, this must be what freedom feels like. It wasn't true freedom, I was still under orders, but it must be close. Masamune sliced through three more of Godo's vermin and I shook their filthy blood off my beloved sword before leaping back into the fray. The battle, the carnage… it is glorious. I saw Genesis Rhapsodos laughing in delight as he hacked off some vermin's arm. The vermin was tenacious, I will give it that. Even with only a single arm left it still charged at Genesis Rhapsodos. However Genesis Rhapsodos just shot off a few fireballs and turned to face some more of the vermin. Angeal Hewley was different. He treated these vermin almost as if they were human. I couldn't understand how he had any respect for these vermin. I turned and impaled one that was sneaking up on me. I studied the vermin as it twitched on the blade. It looked like it was trying to come closer so it could stab me but it didn't have the strength. Not only was it vermin but it was weak vermin. The vermin was certainly strange looking. It had a strange skin color and its eyes were weirdly shaped. I pulled Masamune sideways and bisected the vermin that had died while I was studying it. I wrinkled my nose, looks like vermin and smells like vermin. They were so odd, I wonder if they were experiments too.

Even though I was going against vermin this was still freedom. There was no one here pushing harder monsters on me as I gasped for breath. There was no Hojo plotting a harder test. Even better I knew that when I returned to camp with Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewley and whatever ShinRa grunts survived I would have to do nothing but wash of the vermin's blood and relax. No asking about voices in my head. No burning injections and no tests. I sliced through another vermin and another directly after that. The vermin's blood splattered in my hair and that pissed me off more than anything else these vermin had done. My hair was the one thing I had that had not been taken away and they ruined it. These vermin would all die for that.

I became a whirlwind of silver and black. I could hear the vermin screaming something in their vermin tongue but I did not care to listen. Genesis Rhapsodos was yelling something as well. I do not know if Genesis Rhapsodos wanted me to stop or was yelling for me to kill more and I do not care. I heard Genesis Rhapsodos's laughter and believe it was the second one. The way Genesis Rhapsodos fought was graceful. I wonder if this was freedom to Genesis Rhapsodos the same way it was to me. Did Genesis Rhapsodos feel that rush that comes from being stronger, faster, better? It mattered little. Together Genesis Rhapsodos and I sliced through the masses. Genesis Rhapsodos's crimson coat slipped into my silver and black dance of death and together the two of us pierced the final vermin left alive on the field. At the same time Genesis Rhapsodos and I whipped our swords to the side and the vermin fell to the bloody ground in pieces.

"Vermin."

"What was that Sephiroth?" Genesis Rhapsodos questioned as blood was flung off that red sword.

"Nothing Genesis Rhapsodos. Nothing."

"Call me Genesis, or at least commander. Calling me by my full name must get annoying." Genesis Rhapsodos, Genesis flipped back his red hair and then grimaced in disgust when some of the red streaks proved to be blood in his hair.

"I will do that Genesis. Let us return to camp now."

"Whatever you say General Sephiroth sir. You know you really aren't as bad as you let people believe. "_My friend, do you fly away now?" _

I stopped listening to Genesis at that point. In the two days I had been at the military camp I had heard the entirety of Loveless at least five times. It was starting to irritate me the same way that Hojo's laugh had. However I still required Hojo to live but I did not require Genesis so if he did not stop irritating me I would squash him like the verm- irritant that he was. Why was I thinking of Genesis as vermin. He is a comrade, someone who was fighting along side me. He was another experiment, someone who understood the pain of being expendable. He was like Angeal, someone who I could rely on. Was I no longer allowed to rely on people? Was my minding telling me to get rid of this attachment before it was fully formed? NO! I had no voices whispering things to me at the lab! I refuse to find them now! I will not let my carefully gained façade of freedom slip away this easily!

I ripped my mind back to Genesis as he continued to prattle on. I believe he was discussing some nuances of Loveless. Likely comparing his performance to that of a hero. But that made me wonder.

"If you are the hero Genesis, then where do Angeal and I fall?"

Genesis looked at with a peculiar expression. It took me a second to realize that the expression was shock. Was it shock that I had been listening, or was it that I had responded. Maybe he was shocked that I would insert Angeal and I into his thoughts. I was about to apologize for my oversight but he just shook his head and beamed.

"If I was to really look at it I suppose you would be the hero mister demon of Wutai and I would be the traveller searching for the Gift of the Goddess."

"And Angeal?" I prompted. I had never had a non-violent conversation with Genesis, this was actually nice. I felt connected.

"He is the prisoner. Bound to his honor and shackled to his ideals."

Genesis nodded his head as if agreeing with himself before running ahead to catch up with Angeal who was leading the one surviving vermin from our battle. As I thought it over I realized Genesis was wrong on all accounts. Genesis would be the hero, fighting on with a fiery passion. He would not be scared of death, he would embrace it as long as he left the world as himself. Angeal would be the traveller, forever searching for his meaning not only in life but also in what he was fighting for. A lonesome man who never truly fit in where he was placed. He was too nice to be near Genesis or myself with our bloodshed. And I, I remain the prisoner. Shackled not only to this position but also to Hojo and the evils he had performed. I was a prisoner within myself, not allowed to express freely what other did so easily. If only Genesis knew what I truly was. I wonder if he would condemn me as well. Maybe he would see past that. Maybe he would be able to see the few parts of Sephiroth that were truly myself and not crafted by the doctors and scientists. Maybe I could get him to see this part of me.

As I gazed at Angeal and Genesis laughing and smiling together I realized that my dreams were impossible. To see a monster you have to be a monster and both Genesis and Angeal were too bright and vibrant to be monsters. Experiments yes, but they could never be monsters. I would walk in their shadows. I would let the world see that these two are what they should strive to be while I take the brunt of the evils we would have to face. I was built to be strong, to survive, so I would shoulder the burden as long as they remained shining and untouched for me to stand behind. As long as there was one good part in my life I could survive. My conviction would remain true. But inside I knew. I knew that my conviction could only last so long before cracks started to form. And unfortunately I didn't know if I would be able to repair them. There was only so much a human, even an enhanced human, could stand before the pressure broke them.


	4. Interlude

So bad things happened yesterday and I am really **NOT IN A GOOD MOOD.** And by bad things I mean all my story notes were destroyed along with my iPod and headphones... as well as a few other important things not to mention my pants and bag got soaked in tea. On top of that my laptop charger **MELTED** so I am borrowing someone's to write this. But I got a fav and two follow's and I have that awesome review so since I was pissed but people were nice I give you all Conviction 1/2 a.k.a the view of Genesis and Angeal a.k.a the interlude. It might be a bit sloppy but I'll edit it better later. This is not a long update but a little is better than nothing... right?

Anyway... on with the fic. Review please.

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"What do you think of the new general? I mean we have been under Sephiroth's command for a while now and we aren't dead yet."

"He is certainly interesting, but something seems off about him. I trust him but...I just don't know."

"Agreed Angeal. He seems almost perfect in some ways but then he blanks. No one I have ever met before shows so little emotion."

Genesis leaned back on his cot and stared at Angeal who was leaning against the main pole in the tent. The two had just finished cleaning off from their latest skirmish with the Wutai warriors and had decided to head to Genesis' tent in the camp instead of splitting up. They had been under the command of General Sephiroth for a little over two months now and he was still impossible to understand. The man never smiled or did anything but twitch his lips in a small smirk. He never lost an argument and his skills in battle were unparalleled. Genesis and Angeal knew he was more than human, he was better then they were and they knew they were no longer fully human. More then that, however, was the fact that Sephiroth was always the one taking on the truly disgusting work in the war. Any time when those they were fighting were women or children Sephiroth would step in and slaughter them all leaving the adult men for Genesis and Angeal. One might think this was Sephiroth being lazy but Genesis understood. It is one thing to kill an adult male that had been a trained warrior but the women and children who had been handed weapons and told to fight were another story. In those cases it wasn't killing an enemy but destroying an innocent. He had been doing the same thing before to save Angeal from destroying his honor and now Sephiroth was doing it to save him. It was slightly unnerving how much Sephiroth understood them.

"No one is perfect Genesis." Said Angeal with a small smirk. "Not even you."

_"My friend, do you fly away now? To a world that abhors you and I? All that awaits you is a somber morrow. No matter where the winds may blow."_

"Stop being so depressing, I don't hate you Genesis."

"I know Angeal... but sometimes I feel like Sephiroth does. sometimes I see him smile a little in your direction but whenever he sees me his face goes flat. I don't know if he hates me or just doesn't trust me, and more than that I don't know which of those to options makes me feel worse."

Angeal stood up straight and walked to join Genesis on the bed. The two sat in silence for a while before Angeal spoke up again.

"I don't think he hates you Genesis. I don't think he can hate anyone, not because he is too nice to hate but because he mentally can not feel the emotion hate. No one is perfect, but Sephiroth... he feels almost like a robot at times. Cold and inhuman, a deadly precision. More then that I don't think it's that he doesn't trust us but it's more like he doesn't trust himself around us. Sephiroth is a special case, it's obvious when you see him. I don't think he can hate but I wouldn't want to see him when he does."

The two went back to sitting in silence, both of them looking at the ground with a look that seemed to ask it if it had the answers they sought. the two were disturbed from their contemplation when a voice sounded from the entrance to the tent.

"I do hate, Angeal, Genesis. I just don't hate you two."

Genesis and Angeal looked up just in time to see a waterfall of silver hair leave the tent. The two looked at each other with shock in their eyes before Genesis collapsed back onto the cot with a groan.

"That man will be the death of us."

Angeal chuckled. "Well, at least our death will be pretty."

The two sat in silence for a beat before Genesis started laughing making Angeal crack a small smile.

Outside the tent Sephiroth frowned in contemplation. He nodded his head once he came to a decision and strode off with no one knowing his thoughts. No one at all.


	5. Chapter 4

So sorry it has taken me this long to update again. I finally got all of my electronic problems fixed so everything is up and running. Although the papers I had to write did put me back a bit. I think I got all the spelling mistakes out of this but I might not have so there might be some editing in the near future. We will be getting into what I know of Crisis Core right now and it won't be exact not only because this is FanFiction but also because I know nothing of FFVII beyond Advent Children. There will be mistakes and if you see me missing a major plot point tell me and I will try and fix it.

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I don't own FFVII... I'm going to stop telling you guys this, it's kind of obvious by now.

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If it weren't for the fact that I do not cry I would be weeping by now. The Wutai War has ended and I know that soon I will be shipped back to Hojo. I had prayed for so long that this war would go on forever, that I would die before it ended. Now, after all this time, I was going to be forced back into the servitude of a mad man. I was going back to a place where I was expendable. Just another disposable specimen lying on the table.

It had been years. Years of freedom, and fighting, and killing, and death. It had been years of learning what it means to be human along with Genesis and Angeal. It had been years of fighting for my life against those who fought for their pride. But now as I sat across from Godo Kisaragi signing the cease-fire and peace treaties I had to wonder if even they knew how little power I had. I wondered if they would laugh if they knew I was more of a prisoner then they would ever be. I was trapped in stronger chains then they would ever feel. True they could no longer fight against ShinRa but at least they could still dream. I had long lost the ability, or the willpower, to do so.

Godo Kisaragi finished signing the papers in front of him. I saw no emotion on his face, I never did, but in his eyes I saw pain and fury. The pride he had cultivated for years had been smashed like a glass vase. He handed the papers to an advisor who handed them to me. It was a subtle show of power, in his own way saying that he was too far above me to even hand papers to me directly. I was impressed with his bravado but I knew that soon enough it would be completely stamped out. Putting out the fires of rebellion was something ShinRa was good at. I knew that all too well. I wondered if he thought of his warriors and their families when he slighted me and those I represented. I wondered if he understood that just one mention of this incident in a report to Fat Man ShinRa and the war could start up again. Fat Man ShinRa did not like being slighted by those he believed were under him. I heard Godo Kisaragi shift slightly and looked up at him once again.

"General Sephiroth, We hope you are happy with the outcome of this war. We hope you see the pain and suffering we go through and enjoy every last bit. But most importantly we hope you prepare yourself for the day when someone will look at you and see the same despair that you see here today." He looked almost smug when he said this. Like he thought those words would scare me into keeping those I held close at arms length. The man is a fool.

I looked at Godo Kisaragi again and could only pity him. "If you believe this is true suffering," I said to him, "Then pray you never get the chance to live a day of my life."

I did not stop to look at his expression. With a quick turn and a flare of my coat I left the room and went to return to my troops. Their numbers were down significantly from when I first lead them into war but we had done better then anyone had dared to hope. More then that I had come out of the war better then I had dared to hope. The men I had brought to this war showed me how to be human, showed me compassion and acceptance. But I knew it could not last. My use had ended the second the war was over and even now as I walked away from the center of Wutai I could feel Hojo's shackles grip me. Walking over to Angeal and Genesis I could almost picture a world in which the three of us were friends living our lives freely. But that dream is shattered as I get closer and see the two were discussing something quietly. I knew they knew I was there and yet they would not speak up loud enough for me to join their discussion. I understand now that there are some things one does not share with everyone but I had hoped by now that I would rank higher then an everyone in their minds.

"Come," I said as I swept past them and towards the chopper that would bring us back to ShinRa headquarters in Midgar for a final debriefing. I did not stop to see their faces and I did not stop to see if they wanted to talk to me. If they would keep things from me at a time like this when they knew I needed support then maybe having the two of them as friends was more trouble then it was worth.

I could not see them but I heard the sound of two pairs of booted feet following closely behind me. I jumped up into the helicopter and strapped myself in before closing my eyes. These would be the last few hours of freedom and humanity I had and I wanted to savor them. I had hoped that Fat Man ShinRa would see my value and allow me to stay as general of his armies but I knew that Hojo would be telling Fat Man ShinRa that I would be more useful and cost effective in the labs. It was a hard truth to swallow, I had just gained my humanity and now it would be stripped from me again. I wouldn't let Hojo have the pleasure of doing that to me. I would seal my humanity inside myself and keep it hidden. Nothing and no one would drag it out of me again. Not Genesis Rhapsodos, not Angeal Hewley, no one. My Conviction would be renewed. If I could not find freedom and I could not keep my humanity then at least I would keep my self. I would hide keep my soul separate from my actions so no one could taint what was left of it. These vermin that walked Gaia, I would destroy them all if it weren't for the fact that I had no reason. Why expand the energy for vermin. But beyond that I knew that destroy them I would stain what was left of my humanity and if I would not let Angel Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos do that then why would I let vermin. Nothing would faze me again.

"Sephiroth?"

I said nothing. They would not make me human again. They would not break my spirit when they inevitably left me.

"Sephiroth, are you okay?"

No words of concern or fake hands of friendship would draw me out again. I would stay silent and stay hidden.

"Sephiroth did something go wrong with the negotiations?"

"Sephiroth?"

I am stone, I am perfection, I am a killing machine with no emotions. I am not human or I have never learned and I have no friends because I do not need them. I am not crazy, my sanity is the only thing I have. I am stone, I am solitude.

"Sephiroth?"

"Silence."

And everything was quiet. I repeated my mantra to myself. Stone, perfection, killing machine, no friends but I have my sanity, stone, solitude. Stone, perfection, killing machine, no friends but I have my sanity, stone, solitude. Stone, perfection, killing machine, no friends but I have my sanity, stone, solitude. Stone, perfection, killing machine, no friends but I have my sanity, stone, solitude…

I wasted away the hours pulling myself back to who I was before. The only emotion left was hate, hate for Hojo. All that was left was silence. The silence of my soul as it was locked away deep inside. The silence of the bond we three once shared that I had shattered to save my sanity. The silence of the helicopter as Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley realized that I had become once again what I once was. I knew this silence would not last long. Genesis loved to talk and Angeal loved to worry, but for now I would take the silence and wrap it around myself like a wing that blocked out the world I was no longer a part of. I would take this silence and mold it into what I must become to survive. I was not expendable no matter what Hojo said. I was not disposable no matter what Fat Man ShinRa did. I am Sephiroth, The Demon of Wutai and I am Perfection, I am Strong, I am… I am broken and I know it.


End file.
